Wentworth-by-the-Sea Collection, 1879-1996 – MS060

Wentworth-by-the-Sea Collection, 1879-1996 – MS060

Provenance: James Baker Smith and his wife, Margaret Smith [who owned the hotel from 1946-1980] gathered the material for the collection and stored it at the Wentworth-by-the Sea Hotel. Some of the material was collected before they owned the hotel;’ some of it was collected during their ownership; and some of the material may have come with the hotel when they bought it. The precise origin of this hotel material before the Smiths ownership is unclear. The Henley Corporation [interim owners after 1890] gave the entire collection to the Friends of the Wentworth, who deposited it as the Athenaeum in 1994.

The collection was given to the Henley Corporation by Margaret Smith during the 1980’s. She felt that the collection should stay with the hotel’s new owners. The material was then given to the Friends of the Wentworth, an organization dedicated to preserving the Wentworth-by-the Sea, who deposited in at the Portsmouth Athenaeum in 1994. The collection contains the following: boxes of correspondence to and from Jim and Margaret Smith, owners of the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel; their lifelong collection of clippings; account books, budgets, and printed materials; financial records from the previous owners of the hotel; years of guest registries; an extensive assortment of hotel, restaurant and cruise ship menus and brochures, collected by the Smiths; photographs of the hotel and its visitors
The majority of the material in the collection originated with the Smiths; however, there is some material on the hotel dated before the Smith’s ownership. It is assumed that this material came with the hotel when they bought it.

Historical Note

1873-1879 Construction was begun on the hotel in 1873 and finished in 1874. It was built by Daniel Chase and Charles E. Campbell, former owner of the land and proprietor. The “new” bridge to Rye was not yet completed at the time construction began. The name “Wentworth” is derived possibly from Samuel Wentworth, first innkeeper on Great Island; or, according to John Albee, because of its proximity to the Wentworth-Coolidge mansion across the harbor. In

1875, a wing of twenty rooms was added. A series of successive owners ran the hotel for the next few years: D. Chase went bankrupt and his brother, C.E. Chase took over; then in 1877—78, Jewett Founder was owner; and in

1878-79, Cob Jenness & Co. had the privilege of owning the establishment. According to Thomas Wilson’s notes a bowling alley was built, as well as a billiard hall at this time.

1879-1902 Frank Jones bought the hotel under the name Frank W. Hilton & Co. in 1879. [In 1874, Frank W. Hilton had assumed management of the Jones-owned Rockingham Hotel in downtown Portsmouth]. Under Jones’ direction, the hotel was expanded and improved upon: a third floor was added, as well as the towers, and the Mansard roof. A one story dining room [120 ft. x 42 ft.] was added to the rear of the building. A separate carriage house that held up to 75 horses was also built. The towers were disputably said to be designed by Frank Jones, as they closely resembled the towers on his own home on Woodbury Avenue [see Building Portsmouth by Richard Candee]. The Frank Jones era at the Wentworth is summarized in a chapter of Ray Brighton’s King of the Alemakers. In 1881, the hotel could accommodate 450 guests. Frank Hilton, then manager, died that year at 40 years of age. He was succeeded by George Thompson, who was succeeded by W.K. Hill. In 1882, Chester Arthur, President of the United States, stayed at the Wentworth when visiting the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In 1888, the dining room wing was added. A restaurant was located on the top floor of the colonial wing and it was open to the public as well as to the paying guests. Also during some of this time the Wentworth was painted “Nile” green with a red roof. During the Spanish-American war, the captured Admiral Cervera was a popular figure who visited the Wentworth and was treated as a hero while his men remained captive at the shipyard prison.

1902-1908 After the death of Frank Jones in 1902, the hotel was owned by his estate. During this time, it was managed by various persons and organizations including Harvey and Wood Management of Boston’s Bellevue Hotel. In 1905, a grand event occurred that was very in keeping with the worldly style of Frank Jones, the signing of the historic Portsmouth treaty. The diplomats stayed at the Wentworth, and undertook what were the first face-to-face negotiations in modern history. Japanese representatives Komura and the Russian diplomat, Witte are said to have made many unofficial agreements during the walks together in the gardens. [see There Are No Victors Here by Peter Randall for more details on this treaty]. In 1906, 1907, and 1908 the hotel was sold consecutively to Henry Priest. Frank Hall, and Priest and Shaw in 1908.

1908-1920 According to various sources, the ownership changed frequently up until 1920. Little information is available for this period. The ice house burnt in 1912. In 1910, Priest and others incorporated the hotel and tried to sell stock. These various people may have all owned stock in the hotel until 1920. But there is no record of stock actually being sold. At this time the restaurant was removed from the top floor of the Colonial House.

1920-1945 Harry Beckwith bought the hotel in 1920. He added bathrooms, windows, a bath house on the shore, a saltwater pool, a 9-hole golf course. [Although Ray Brighton’s sources say that Frank Jones built the golf course.] He also built “The Ship, a large ship shaped wooden building with dressing rooms, a bar, and a theater that wrapped around a large saltwater pool There was an understood policy by Beckwith not to allow Jews or Blacks to stay at the hotel. [1] Beckwith also owned the Farragut Hotel in Rye. It was close during the two years of World War II, 1942-1943. Bechwith is credited with adding the “by-the-Sea” to the name.

1946-1980 In March of 1946, the hotel was sold to the Smiths for $200,000. They expanded the convention season. In their third season [1948], the Smiths’ hosted the Governors Conference. Governors from all over the country attended. The collection contains brochures that elaborate on this event. In 1948, The Smiths bought the Rockingham Hotel, which Frank Jones had also owned. They owned it for fourteen years. For five years, starting in 1949, they also managed the Flamingo Hotel in Florida. [They did not own it but spent the winters there.] In 1949 James Baker Smith opposed the minimum wage law that guaranteed fifty cents an hour. During the height of the McCarthy era, Owen Lattimore, a black-listed academic was invited to speak at the hotel, but then was uninvited after James Baker Smith took a vote from his guests. Much to his disappointment, they voted again even hearing Lattimore. In 1962, James B. Smith Jr. became manager. In 1969, a fire destroyed dormitories and one person died. In 1973, they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the start of construction of the hotel, to coincide with Portsmouth’s 350th anniversary. In 1977, there was another smaller fire. At this point, the Smiths were in their seventies and ready to retire. After thirty five seasons, the Smiths sold the hotel and property to the Pacific Park Corp., a Swiss company run by Mr. Beglinger for $5.8 million.

1981-1996 After the Pacific Park Corporation closed the hotel in 1982, the Great Island Trust Partnership [comprised of Maple, Lloyd, Allen et. Al.} assumed ownership of the hotel and grounds. In 1988, Henley Corporation bought the hotel. In 1992, the Cole Company became the owners with the Green Company as property managers. In 1995, the Green Company became the owners. It has been working with the friends of the Wentworth to find a viable owner who will restore and reopen the hotel.

As of 1996, the Green Company owns the Wentworth-by-the-Sea and grounds and is looking for a buyer to restore and reopen the hotel. The selling price for the hotel and 4.5 acres of property is one million dollars. The Friends of the Wentworth organization was formed in 1992 to promote and preserve the historic hotel, and since its inception has aided the Green Company in its search for a viable new use for the Wentworth.

Biographical Note

James Baker Smith, called hereafter Jim, was born in Pittsburgh, Kansas June 4, 1908. His family was in the hotel business. His father, Victor Smith, died in around 1930. Mother, Louise [Baker?] [Mrs. Victor Smith] died some time shortly after 1944, after a period of ill health. In 1944, Jim gave Louise Tasher, Margaret’s mother, the right to act on Mrs. Victor Smith’s behalf for legal matters. Grandmother Baker, Victor’s mother, was a frequent correspondent and avoid traveler. Sally Baker, Jim’s aunt, established a trust for the Smiths.

Margaret Tasher Smith was born in Denver, Colorado on October 16, 1907. Her mother Louise Tasher, visited the hotel often until she died in 1960. Margaret’s father is not mentioned in these records. Margaret had a brother Neil Tasher and sister, Virginia Tasher Mosley. Nina is the name of an unknown relative, or it could be a nickname for Virginia. Virginia Mosley lives in Tenafly, New Jersey, has at least two daughters, Judy and Marcia. Neil married Barbara Sexton; they had a least one child, a boy, in 1959. He later married Adeline Bauer. Neil died in 1975. Ruth and Merton Borchert, were Margaret’s aunt and uncle and frequently corresponded.

Margaret and Jim met in college at the University of Colorado. They were both active in Greek life; Margaret was later named president of the Alumni Association of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Jim transferred to Cornell school of Hotel Management and they continued their relationship long distance, as the many love letters attest. Margaret’s nickname is Bersie or Ber. She graduated from the School of business Administration; and Jim graduated from Cornell. They married October 5, 1934.

After a few odd jobs, Jim Smith worked at the Broadmoor in Colorado for 5 years before being let go under unknown circumstances. He found a job managing the plaza in Houston, Texas in 1939. Drafted during World War II, he was stationed in Pensacola, Florida. Margaret took over management of the hotel in Houston while he was stationed in Florida. She was the first woman admitted into the Houston Hotelman’s Association. She was also elected to various hotel association offices including President of the Houston Hotel Association in 1945-46.

On September 5, 1941 they had a baby girl, who died immediately after birth. She is unnamed and buried in Forest Park Cemetery in Houston, Texas. In 1943 [?] they had a baby boy, James Baker Smith, Jr.

In March of 1946, the Smiths bought the Wentworth-by-the-Sea for $2,000,000. See Hotel History, above. They ran the hotel until 1980 when they sold it and retired.

The Smiths continued to be active in the community. They were a major force in such charities and organizations as Crossroads House for the homeless, which Margaret helped found; the Rotary Club; the Portsmouth family Y; the salvation Army; St. John’s Church; and many others. See the clippings series for more details.
James Baker Smith died on July 26, 1990 after two years in a nursing home. His ashes are buried in St. John’s cemetery. Margaret Smith moved to a nursing home in Savannah, Georgia at the instigation of her son, who had moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina a few months earlier. She died in 1995 far away from her home in Portsmouth.

The following are located in the vertical files at the Portsmouth Athenaeum:
Mosley, Virginia. “Notes on the One Hundredth Anniversary.” One page.
Smith, James Barker. “Jim Smith: Hotel Entrepreneur. An Autobiography.” Unfinished.
Wilson, Thomas. “Notes on the Wentworth-by-the Sea.” Piscataqua History Club notes.
Woods, Wadleigh. “The James Baker Smiths”, 1980-1990.”

Photographs from this collection have been separated and processed
as Photograph Collection 24 in the Athenaeum Photograph collection.
Some duplicates clippings and printed material have been turned to the
friends of the Wentworth.

Series Listing

I. Correspondence

II. Printed Material

A. Non-Wentworth Hotel Material

B. Wentworth-By-the-Sea Material

III. Pamphlets

IV. Financial Material

V. Guest Material

VI. Menus

VII. Newspaper and Magazine Clippings

VIII. Miscellaneous

I. Correspondence

These boxes contain letters to and from friends and associates of the Smiths. They are arranged strictly chronologically in the first two boxes. Postcards also have been separated from the correspondence, put into sleeves, and are housed at the end of the regular correspondence. The updates correspondence [n.d.] is filed by an approximate decade at the beginning of the third box. Some of the correspondence deposited by the Friends of the Wentworth was already separated into special topics. These special topics are maintained as they were found and contained in the third box of this series. The following are the topics of this separated correspondence: the sale and management negotiations for various hotels [the Wentworth, the Rockingham, and the Flamingo]; the types of boiler for the hotel; the photographer’s contracts; the landscaping correspondence, the material regarding “Chris” [a counting dog]. Much important information is contained in the special-topic letters. One folder per year except for 1941, which has 2 folders. The death of the Smiths’ baby elicited many sympathy cards and letters.

Pamphlets contains printed and bound material, generally 25 pages or more, such as full magazines, journals, and special edition, dated lengthy brochures with titles such as “Grand Hotels of New England.” These are filed by date.

A. Non-Wentworth Hotel Material

This subseries contains brochures from different hotels around the world including the Rockingham and the Flamingo; conventions not held at the Wentworth;’ catalogs of suppliers, their brochures; inventories of party material.

OV 15
Folder A Land Use Plan for Wentworth-by-the-Sea by the Economic 1970
Development Corporation of Brattleboro,
VT for the Smiths.
Blueprint drawings by Alan H. Yeaton, Manchester NH. 1977

IV. Financial Material

Financial material encompasses a large scope including: receipts, both personal and professional; legal documents including wills and financial information on Jim Smith’s mother; a set of papers from 1921, mostly contains staff payroll receipts and an account book. This series also includes liquor license receipts from the Rockingham and tax information on the Rockingham. Material is arranged chronologically.

Guest books of the hotel dating to 1921 are sorted by type and filed chronologically. The types are as follows: Guest Indexes from 1921-1941 [alphabetical listing of guests]; Guest Departure Books 1930-37, 1939 and undated, probably 1938 [verification of guests checking out]; Guest Registers, 1924-1961 [Actual guest signatures. A number of years are contained in each volume with some overlap in volumes. They may have had two books out the same years]. One oversized Guest Register from 1933, and one oversize Guest Register from 1973 [The sixtieth and one hundredth anniversaries, respectively]; 3 Checkbooks with stubs only, 1920-1922; A 1921 book of charges to guests; Two Expense books from 1933-35 and 1942-45; and one book of reservations 1932-33.

The first three folders contain Wentworth hotel menus of various types. The rest of this series is a unique collection of menus collected by the Smith’s from around the world. They are arranged geographically be section of the country and the world; many are located in an Oversize box.

Newspaper articles are from various publications, including many from the Portsmouth Herald. Some clippings date from the Smiths’ earlier times in Colorado, Texas and Florida. The clippings have been loosely organized into categories such as Hotel Buildings, Events, Smith’s honors etc. These categories are by no means definitive. Some categories overlap, some have more than one folder. Within each folder, the clippings are sorted chronologically. The dates run from approximately 1930-1996. Many of them were deteriorating or difficult to read. All clippings are
Xeroxed on acid free paper unless they had already been Xeroxed. Ray Brighton’s clippings file on he Westworth-by-the Sea is located at the end of this series. His clippings date from the 1980’s and 1990’s. A folder has been designated for clippings dated after 1996.

Author John Lillard will present a talk about his new book "Playing War: Wargaming and U.S. Navy Preparations for World War II". The book explores wargaming at the Naval War College during the 20s and 30s, and how it helped the Navy prepare for the war against Japan.

Historic Portsmouth Chamber Music Series presents Jose Lezcano with String Ensemble. Guitarist Jose Lezcano, violinist Jennifer Elowitch, and members of the Portland Chamber Music Festival team up to play a program of music for guitar and strings. The program, "Mediterranean Muses & Iberian Images" includes works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (his sunny and lyrical masterpiece, the Guitar Quintet), Luigi Boccherini (the exciting Fandango from his Quintet in D minor for guitar and strings), and a virtuoso Sonata Concertante for guitar and violin by Paganini. Lezcano will also present one of his compositions for guitar and strings, Mojito y Habano in a premiere performance.

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